The Real Monarch of the Glen?

I caught a trailer on the BBC yesterday for a programme coming soon about the owner of the Alldale Estate in the Highlands. It is a six part series beginning on 7th July on BBC Scotland 2. For those outside Scotland it will be available on BBCi player or cable/satellite TV.

No doubt it will focus on his attempts to reintroduce extinct wild animals to the Highlands as part of a “game” reserve scheme. On another blog I wrote the post below about a previous prorgamme aired on 16th April 2008. I hope this time the BBC will be less biased but I doubt it.

Previous Blog Post

“Watching last night’s Natural World programme on BBC2, I had expected a balanced assessment of plans to introduce animal species to the Alladale estate that are currently extinct in Scotland. Instead we got the views of the landowner, the estate manager, two estate workers, the estate’s environmental consultant, a reserve owner from South Africa and several others who were in favour of creating a 23,000 acre Higland Game Reserve. The narrator treated us to a commentary describing the great benefits of reintroducing moose, brown bears, lynx, wild boar and wolves would bring. The only dissenting voice was the excellent Cameron Macneish who had less than a minute to explain his opposition. It is a pity the BBC decided to produce such a biased programme about an environmental issue that could have an enormous effect on a Highland wilderness, when a balanced approach was needed.

Update: In the interest of balance I have added a link to the Alladale Estate Website – here. I would recommend taking a look at their accomodation section and you will get an idea of who the Wildland Reserve is aimed at.”